Oh my golly, lord-and-savior, divine intervention, holy magistrate, goodness gracious! I feel like I say this every single time I read a book I’ve been dying to read for the first, but I have been WAITING for this one! I read ACOTAR for the first time months ago—I think I read the first book in December—but it has been living in my mind rent-not-needed-I-will-be-paying-you-sir ever since. I don’t even want it to leave at this point; the ships give me sustenance and the banter makes me die inside.
Anyway, it’s beside the point to say Ms. Maas holds the key to my soul, I definitely have a bit of a story to tell about reading this final book in the series (so far). I finished ACOFAS a while ago and have even gotten around to re-reading all of the books again. But, even though I bought all of them at the bookstore before we left civilization to cross the ocean, the bookstore didn’t have A Court of Silver Flames! Noooooo! On top of that, I was near certain I wasn’t going to finish all of them before we got someplace with a good enough bookstore to buy ACOSF. Never make the mistake of underestimating the power of addiction, my friends. I swear, it took me record time to burn through those books and then I was left with an itch I could scratch in the form of ACOSF.
The worst part was that I could’ve just ordered it on Kindle and read it just to get that desire satisfied, but I don’t love Kindle reading. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Kindles in general and have used them happily for the better part of my life. But, for me, once I bought real paperback books, there was no going back. There’s just something about the physical feeling of a book that I loooove.
So, yes, my stupid laziness convinced me to not bother looking for ACOSF while I had the chance in Cape Town and my stupid pride wouldn’t allow me to buy it on Kindle in an inferior form than I wanted it in. Also, for those who understand the meaning of bookshelf beauty, I wanted the physical copy of ACOSF to put on my bookshelf next to the rest of my ACOTAR series to give me an endorphin boost whenever I looked at it. If you get it, you get it.
Eventually, my sister (there seems to be a theme here) gave in to her temptations and ordered ACOSF on Kindle. I was annoyed when she did it, but also slightly glad because then I could finally read it while not compromising my standards—though that bookshelf remains sadly incomplete. Either way, I was just super excited that I could finally read ACOSF and dove right in.
First of all, I’d like to give a general review that comes to mind: shield your eyes, children. I will definitely be giving a higher than usual age rating for this book, certainly older than the rest of ACOTAR, because…wow. I don’t know how many times I had to just put the Kindle—:(—down and clean my eyes. Everyone was literally so h0rny all the freaking time! And, I mean that’s saying something because this is ACOTAR we’re talking about—come on.
Anyway, there was definitely a spice increase I should mention, and other than that, I absolutely loved the rest of the plot. I know that there are people who aren’t Nessian shippers—I personally think they should be removed from the planet—but I would like to say that I have been a Nessian shipper from Day 1. From the very first time Cassian and Nesta met in ACOMAF I was like, “Oh yeah, this is gonna be good!” Although Feysand remains 100% my OTP and LOML, Nessian has been in the back of my mind forever and has just gotten better in ACOSF.
I would also like to give a quick mention of a new ship that has surfaced that I will defend until my dying breath: Gwynriel. I absolutely love Gwyn, I didn’t know how much I needed a Gwyn in my actual life until she appeared in this book, and I would walk over hot coals to give this woman (excuse me, female) a hug. Combined with the love I feel for Azriel, I was gobbling up the Gwynriel crumbs that are sprinkled throughout the book. That has been the new occupier of my mind at the moment: how ready I am for Gwynriel to surface fully. Azrelain can go die in a pit, sorry not sorry.
The thing I love about the book is the insight into Nesta that we get. I loved Feyre and I love her story, but I’ve also been eyeing Nesta and wondering what her deal was since the beginning. It’s so easy to see her as the nasty, mean older sister, but I think any reader can recognize the inner turmoil going on within that head. I for one was super excited when I realized the whole book would be focusing on Cassian and Nesta with a particular inside look into Nesta’s character. I don’t know, I guess there’s something about the ferocious, backtalking female MC for—it’s just my fave.
This book checked so many boxes for me that have been churning away in the back of my mind since finishing ACOFAS and being left on a teetering cliffhanger for the future of Nessian. More Cassian and Nesta representation, hinting at more deep dives, hopefully, into more Inner Circle characters (pls, pls, pls, Azriel, SJM, pls)? Check. More focus on Nesta and seeing a representation of PTSD, self-destructive tendencies, and bottling up of pain? Check. So much smut from Nessian it was putting Feysand to shame? Check. Not my total top favorite of the series, especially because more books are coming, but it felts so great to dive back into the world of ACOTAR fresh.
Genre: adult fantasy, romance
Age: honestly? 100+ realistically? 16+
Rating: 10/10